Highlights from Oliver Purnell Press Conference

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Oct 14 16:32:16 GMT-04:00 2003

New Clemson basketball coach Oliver Purnell's press conference to talk about opening basketball practice this week. All videos are in Windows Media format. Coach Purnell on his coaching style Cable/DSL | 28.8K Coach Purnell on the perception of Clemson basketball Cable/DSL | 28.8K Coach Purnell on the recruiting at Clemson Cable/DSL | 28.8K Opening Statement: I think it’s obvious that everybody that is intimately involved with our basketball program, at this point, is excited about this coming Saturday because that obviously starts practice. I know I am excited about getting out there in the orange and purple with the whistle and this group of guys that I first saw sitting over here, I can’t believe it been six months ago. And start to find out some things about our team and start to discover and create who we are going to be as a basketball team and program. We’ll find out who is really onboard and who is going to be important to us as we move forward. I know the kids are excited. They are coming by the office with that gleam in their eye and that kind of thing. From that standpoint it is an exciting time for me not only for this year but my life as I embark on a new regime here at Clemson and just really looking forward to it. I think the other thing that is a little bit surprising and maybe I said this three or four months ago to some of you, that I continue to just be very glad I am here. The place just keeps growing on me. As we get out and talk to people particularly recruits and they come on campus, they seem to feel the same way. It’s just a good feeling that I have and my wife have about being here continues and for that I am very happy and thankful for. Attitude of the team so far? They have been great. Again, I think the real work and the real defining starts on Saturday when we really start to get guys out and start to grind them as individuals and as a team. We will ask them to do some things they are not comfortable with and that kind of thing. They have been great. They have been on time. They have been in meetings. They have expressed excitement. They have done a great job in recruiting. I think that kind of thing from them tells you they are onboard right now. We are a good state of mind as a team right now but a lot of teams are in a good state of mind at his time of year. So the real work begins and in a couple or three weeks the real grind starts so we will kind of find out some things at that point. On changing the perception of Clemson basketball. There is no question that it is changing. The perception as I saw it from the outside in then as I felt it from the inside in when I first got here was basketball was not that important at Clemson. It’s a football school. It’s a place that there is not a whole heck of a lot to do at Clemson because it’s in a rural area. There is not a lot for an African-American to do on this campus and a lot of those things were there image-wise that are simply not true. One of our big pushes has been to change the image of our program externally and internally. We have been at work doing that and we have seen and felt some positive results with that. And really all we want to do is have the image of our program match reality. Another one that is out there is Clemson has never won which is obviously not true. So we are out there dispelling all those things and telling them the truth. Which is terms of winning Clemson has had some great teams and hasn’t sustained it and we are here to sustain it. It’s a great place to go to school, much like many great rural intuitions in the country that have great football. It’s a great place to go to school for an African-American, Caucasian, Asian or whatever. It’s just a great place. From that standpoint, I felt it was a sleeping giant and part of our charge is to get out and change that image to what is reality. Listen to the full Oliver Purnell Interview here - Real | Windows Media Sharrod Ford - Real | Windows Media